Traveler (16 page)

Aislin laughed.  “No, they didn’t.  I came out with my virtue intact.  Not that I had a virtue to protect before,” she murmured off-handedly, into her glass.  Alexander didn’t need to know she wasn’t a virgin. Granted, it had been one time, an awkward back-seat exchange with a guy at a party, but still.

“Good.” He replied calmly, not remarking on her other comment.  She probably had no idea that he had heard her quite clearly, and truthfully it wasn’t any of his business.  He took a bite of his pizza, managing to finish that first piece relatively quickly.  “You don’t need to worry about randomly disappearing from my house.  I have warded certain parts of the property against it.  Now once I teach you, you can deliberately do it...but only once I’ve cleared you.”

Aislin nodded.  “When will you teach me?” she asked without preamble, eating most of her pizza but leaving the crust, setting the remainder on the plate onto the cocktail table.  She was impatient, and wanted to learn.  She wanted to go back.  “And...is there a way...to bring someone from there....here?”

“I will begin teaching you once we have finished getting you settled in...arranging things with your schooling and what not.”  He answered slowly, searching her face curiously.  “There is a way, yes...but you need to have plenty of experience first.  Why? What are you thinking of?”

She shrugged and shook her head. “It’s silly,” she answered, getting up to throw away the rest of her pizza and to put away her dishes.  “It’s just a hunch, really...I don’t know if there is any merit to it.  And you would think it’s too dangerous.” She washed her plate and her glass, drying them and putting them away.  She needed to divert the conversation before he asked about Brileia, and the reason for her question.  “I think I’ve had enough of a heart to heart tonight, thanks...I think I might go to bed.  It’s been a long day...”

“If you are talking about that girl on the pirate ship...well...we can discuss that in the morning.”  Alexander replied as he got to his feet and grabbed the pizza box, carrying it into the kitchen to put the rest away.  “I will think of some way to help her out of that mess...don’t worry.  Just get some rest and I’ll let you know what I will do in the morning.”

Aislin nodded and padded softly towards her room, stopping for a moment to ask him one last question.  “Alexander...what happened when you went to go get my clothing?  Were you able to get it okay?”

His back was to the hallway as he paused in front of the sink, having just finished cleaning up his dinner dishes.  He sighed softly.  “I did find everything exactly where you left it...though it took me some time to get to it.  Your fellow...prisoner was having a conversation with the Captain.”

Aislin frowned.  “Oh...and how did that go?”  She hoped he hadn’t hurt her feelings too badly.

“Whatever she was looking for...she’s given up on it now.”  He turned slightly to glance at her, his frown visible.  “She told him to tell someone that she would stop looking for him now, and that he no longer had to lie to protect him.  Do you know who she was speaking of?”

“Oh, poor Bri,” Aislin whispered, her face falling.  “I’d hoped to spare her from more heartache...she was looking for this man, a man she had known when she was only four years old.  She called him Dragon.  She has been looking for him for years...and the Captain told her he was dead, that he’d disappeared from the ship one day...which was why I thought that maybe her Dragon had appeared here.”  She came back out towards the couch, sitting on the top of it, her legs over the side.  “But now that she’s stopped looking...I wonder what the Captain had to say to her to change her mind...?”  Her mind was racing behind her eyes.

“He told her that the man would come looking for her every year and look at her from afar...and that the last time he found out that she was betrothed and his heart broke.  And then he died the next day.”  He shook his head slowly.  “She asked when that was...and he said six months ago.  She then made a comment about it being funny that he knew she was betrothed before she did...and that is when she decided not to look for him any more.  And she gave him something back before returning to her room.  She did manage to keep from crying until she got inside.”

Aislin frowned. “I see....that’s...very odd.”  Why would the Captain and Brileia have fought over this?  There was something that one of them wasn’t being honest about.  She just had to find out what.  “Thank you for telling me....good night, Alexander.”

“Good night...and sweet dreams, Aislin.”  He gave her a faint smile, waiting until she had gone into her room before he went into his own.  His eyes were drawn briefly to the bed where she had lain earlier that day.  Light, that girl was going to get him in trouble one of these days!  Trying not to think about inappropriate things, he grabbed some fresh boxers and a tee shirt before heading in the bathroom for a shower...a cold shower.

Aislin had gone to her room quietly, closing the door behind her and leaning against it for a moment.  Helping Bri, figuring out what was going on with the Captain, and then trying to figure out the puzzle that was Alexander...all of it made her head spin.  A small smile crossed her face as she thought about him.  He had been so kind to her...but then again, gay men always were, she had found.  She glanced briefly at the top drawer of her dresser before she decided against it, climbing into her bed and pulling the covers up around her neck, turning the lights off with a click.  Hopefully tonight would be a good night’s sleep for her.

Chapter 11

The night had passed uneventfully, and Aislin had found a better sleep than she had since her mother had died.  The sun had risen just a few minutes before she woke up, stretching in the tank top and panties that she’d slept in.  As she stretched, her eyes flew open.  She didn’t ask him why them calling her Traveler was significant, or about the keys he’d given her!  How was she so stupid?  With a determined glint in her eye and, knowing he was up, she went to go stalk to his bedroom and bang on the door to see if he would answer.  She didn’t notice that she was still in the clothing she had slept in;  she just wanted answers, and she didn’t want to wait any longer.

As was his normal routine, even on Sundays, Alexander had awakened for an early morning jog through the neighborhood.  It was his way of clearing his mind, and gods knew that he needed it after the events of the previous day.  His run had taken him much longer this morning, as he couldn’t quite stop thinking today.  By the time he was finally satisfied with his efforts, he was literally dripping with sweat.

When he returned home, he had immediately gone into the bathroom for a shower.  He could literally smell himself...and that couldn’t be good.  Humming under his breath, he stood under the showerhead and washed thoroughly, the water easing the faint ache in his muscles.  Alexander had no idea how long he was simply standing there before he heard someone pounding on his bedroom door.  What in the world?  Frowning, he turned off the shower and grabbed a towel, wrapping it around his waist.  Coming out of the bathroom, he paused and looked at the girl, a brow arching.  “Did you need something, Aislin? Or has my bedroom door offended you in some way?”

Aislin spun around, hearing his voice behind her.  Her eyes got very wide and a scarlet blush stained her cheeks as she saw that he was only wrapped in a towel.  A towel that covered him, to be sure, but it didn’t help in hiding his chiseled physique, and the water that was dripping from his chest and shoulders.  She lost her ability to rationally think for a moment, mumbling under her breath.  “I can see that you like lots of meat,” she muttered.  “And meat must just love you...” She blinked for a moment, collecting herself.  “I...I needed to ask you a few questions, Alexander.”

Blue eyes widened slightly as he barely caught her muttered words.  He stared at her for a moment before shaking his head, valiantly pretending not to have noticed how little she was actually wearing at the moment.  He walked towards her and paused a moment to smile down at her.  “Well, your questions will have to wait until I’ve dried off and dressed.  Perhaps you should do the same.”  Patting her shoulder lightly, he passed by her and went into his room, pushing the door behind him.

Aislin bit her bottom lip and scowled after him.  “Well now that you’re done hogging the shower, maybe I can get clean,” she jabbed at him, smiling even as she said it.  It was very difficult to not peek.  She was human, after all...and it was a very good-looking man in the room behind her.  She pressed herself against the wall, leaning back against the wall a little, her eyes trying to catch a glimpse of...what?  Ass?  It wasn’t going to do anything.  Aislin getting involved with this man would be nothing but trouble and besides, he saw her as a child anyway.  A female child.  Why did the gay men always have to be so good-looking?  And so unattainable?  There was no reason to suspect otherwise.  

Closing her eyes, she let out her breath in a huff and walked into the bathroom.  It was useless.  The shower was still warm and the air still steamy from Alexander’s shower.  Wordlessly, she slipped out of her tank top and panties and left them in a pile on the floor, turning the water on as she waited for it to warm.  Once it was ready, she climbed in and, with a sigh, let the warmth soak into her skin, revitalizing her body like nothing else ever could.  She would miss swimming, above all things, she thought.  She couldn’t swim if she was going to do classes online.  She took a relatively quick shower, not wanting Alexander to come out before she had a chance to run to her room and grab her clothing.  Reaching for one of her dark purple towels, the ones they had just bought, she wrapped it around herself, tying the wrap underneath her armpit, and wrapped another towel around her hair.  Quietly, not wanting to attract his attention, Aislin opened the door and tiptoed quickly towards her room to get dressed.

Never having been the type to dawdle, Alexander had dried off quickly before slipping into the clothes he had left out earlier, a pair of dark jeans and a white tee shirt.  He glanced briefly towards the closed bathroom door before heading into the kitchen to fix breakfast.  As he pulled out a mixing bowl and the ingredients for pancakes, he idly wondered just what had been so important to ask that she had been banging on his bedroom door...in her underwear.  By the time he heard the shower turn off, he had already finished mixing up the batter and had started cooking bacon in another pan.  “Breakfast will be ready soon.” He called out over his shoulder, certain that she would hear.  

Aislin heard him calling her as she tiptoed across the living room.  “Okay...I’ll be right out,” she called, trying not to yelp in surprise at the fact that he was already outside the bathroom, and into the kitchen.  “Just...give me a second, ok?”  She was nearly to her bedroom.

“Of course...take your time.” He replied as he flipped the pancakes that were in the pan.  While he was tempted to glance in her direction, he decided to behave.  She was his charge now...not a bed partner.  Shaking his head, he reached into the cabinet and pulled out clean dishes for them to use.  It didn’t take long for him to set the table, and once that was done, he was back at the stove finishing up the cooking.

Aislin pushed the door to her room mostly closed, hanging the towel over the door so it could dry.  She pulled out a jean skirt, stopping about two inches above her knees, and a grey t-shirt with floral designs on it.  She brushed her hair quickly, deciding to leave it loose and let it dry on its own.  She glanced in the mirror she had brought from her stepfather’s house and smiled.  It was perfect--comfortable, but cute.   She glanced at her phone, expecting with hope against  hope to have a call from her stepfather,  not that the bastard would care in the slightest.  She perused Facebook as she walked out into the living room, seeing an event for something called Party Hardy, a fall-themed dance at one of the local clubs.  Maybe she would show up...do something exciting tonight.  This was a new chapter, after all...maybe she should enjoy something about this world before she left it entirely.  As she walked into the kitchen, she sniffed.  “It smells fantastic,” she commented.

There was a plate filled with golden pancakes sitting on the table, along with another plate filled with bacon.  Alexander glanced up as he pulled butter and a bottle of syrup from the fridge.  “Thanks.  Do you want juice or milk?” He asked as he set everything on the table.

“Orange juice would be fantastic,” she commented, sitting down in one of the chairs at the table.  “So...I was thinking...I might go out tonight.  I just wanted to let you know where I’d be,” she smiled as she pulled out a couple pancakes from and a few pieces of bacon. “I haven’t had homemade pancakes since my mother died...”

He set a glass of orange juice next to her plate before taking his own seat across from her.  He smiled lightly.  “That’s fine...as long as you call me and come home before I head to work in the morning.”  Piling his plate with more bacon than pancakes, he glanced at her for a moment.  “Well, to be honest, I prefer cooking at home than constantly ordering out...so you might as well get used to having pancakes on Sundays.”

She smiled a little.  “That sounds...awesome,” she admitted.  “I think I could get used to this...not that I’m going to take advantage of your hospitality for long,” she said hurriedly.  “I’m trying to find a job to get my own place...so that way I don’t inconvenience you.”  She closed her eyes and made an ecstatic sound in her throat that sounded like a moan as she ate her first bite of pancakes.  She leaned back in her chair, savoring the bite, bliss on her face.

“First of all, you are not going anywhere until we are certain that you can control your jumping...and secondly, you are not an inconvenience.  I’m helping you because I want to, no other reason.”  His voice trailed off when he saw her reaction to his cooking, his blue eyes widening in surprise.  Shifting slightly in his chair, he took a long drink from his glass, hoping the cold orange juice would cool him off some.  Light, this girl was going to drive him up a wall!  “Um...as I was saying...don’t worry about finding a job or your own place just yet...just worry about school and about learning how to control your jumps.  It will be easier on you in the long run.”